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Hawk wasn't Thor.
He wasn't some alien from another world. He was a born-and-raised human from Earth.
After Thor made his appearance and the Chitauri invaded Earth, the Big Five had come to understand one critical fact.
Beyond Earth's atmosphere was lawless territory. Once humanity ventured into the cosmos, they wouldn't be greeted with flowers and champagne. More likely, they'd face the gun-barrel diplomacy of countless alien species.
Sure, Earth was located in some backwater corner of the universe.
But the Big Five didn't know that. And considering Earth's own nations approached diplomacy with maximum suspicion and hostility, what would interstellar relations look like?
Which made Hawk incredibly important at this particular moment in time.
Most importantly, Hawk and the U.S. military were enemies.
Quantico was still being rebuilt. They'd barely finished ten percent of the reconstruction. The other ninety percent of the ruins were still sitting there like a monument to what happened when you crossed Hawk Phoenix.
General Ross and his family had been dead so long, the grass on their graves had probably been replaced several times over.
And that was excellent.
For the United States, that was terrible news. But for the other four Security Council representatives, it was actually fantastic.
Like the saying goes—
People don't hate success. They hate when someone else has it and they don't.
If Hawk had been on good terms with the U.S. government, the other four representatives would have absolutely supported Nick Fury's plan to bring Hawk under control.
Just like how the Security Council had quietly approved Fury's containment measures for the Hulk years ago.
And why was that? Because the Hulk's girlfriend was Betty Ross. And Betty Ross's father, Thaddeus Ross, was one of the U.S. military's top brass.
The Security Council wasn't America's council. It was the Big Five's council.
Rather than saying SHIELD felt the need to control the Hulk, it was more accurate to say the Security Council felt the need to control him.
But Hawk was different.
Hawk had no connection to the other member nations. He was actively hostile to the U.S. military. And according to Maria Hill and her team, his interactions with SHIELD had been relatively friendly.
That was the real reason why, when Nick Fury resurfaced and once again proposed that Hawk needed to be contained, the Security Council immediately shut him down by freezing his command authority.
So—
"Congratulations, Commander Hill. Actually, I should say Director Hill now."
Once the Security Council's latest resolution came through, the first order of business wasn't dealing with the HYDRA crisis fallout. It was promoting Maria Hill to Director of SHIELD, granting her full authority over all SHIELD operations.
Because in order to clean up the mess HYDRA had left behind, they needed someone competent and widely respected to step up and take charge.
And during the HYDRA crisis, Maria Hill had remained remarkably calm and followed protocol to the letter. Naturally, the Security Council was impressed.
After all, Nick Fury was dead.
Faking your death still counted as death.
From a certain perspective, Fury had actually gotten off easy.
Because just based on three facts alone—that he'd been SHIELD Director, that he'd been promoted by HYDRA leader Alexander Pierce, and that HYDRA had launched their second bid for world domination during his tenure—he should have faced serious consequences.
And this time, because of Hawk's intervention, Fury hadn't been able to pull off some triumphant return storyline.
Put it this way: if Fury were actually dead, that would be one thing. But if he'd been declared dead and then suddenly showed up alive?
Best-case scenario, he'd spend the rest of his life in prison.
After all, HYDRA made their move when you were "dead," and then suddenly you're alive again after they failed? That looked suspicious as hell.
In short—
The SHIELD Director was dead. The new SHIELD Director was the freshly minted Maria Hill.
"Do you have a suitable candidate for Commander, Director Hill?"
"Victoria Hand, Commander of the New York SHIELD Operations Center."
"...Acceptable."
In the video conference, the four Security Council representatives and the newly appointed U.S. representative muted their microphones, exchanged nods and a few quiet words, then the Eastern representative—whose turn it was to chair this month—unmuted his mic. "Mr. Phoenix is based in New York City. If Commander Hand comes to headquarters, who will handle the New York situation?"
Maria Hill stood with her hands clasped behind her back, facing the large screen displaying the five representatives of the Big Five nations.
"The person with the closest relationship to Hawk in SHIELD isn't me or Commander Hand. It's Sharon Carter. Hawk only got involved because of Sharon Carter."
"Then perhaps Sharon Carter could take over for Commander Hand—"
"No."
"Uh..."
"I'm planning to shut down the New York SHIELD Operations Center. Actually, all SHIELD branch offices outside of headquarters."
Maria Hill's expression remained neutral as she announced her first major initiative as Director.
Not calming people down. Not even expanding operations.
Instead, she was going straight for sweeping cuts and restructuring.
One sentence summed it up.
HYDRA had parasitically infested SHIELD, grown in strength, and nearly succeeded in their second attempt at world domination. That was an undeniable fact.
And as the host of that parasite, SHIELD hadn't been shut down by the Security Council for various reasons. But there was definitely lingering resentment.
So, Rather than passively wait for the Security Council to swing the axe, it was better to take the initiative.
"I've always believed SHIELD's structure is too massive. If it were just large, that would be one thing. But SHIELD has become bloated."
"SHIELD was originally established to serve as a firewall between the supernatural world and the ordinary one."
"What we need isn't size. We need speed, flexibility, and responsiveness to Security Council directives."
"SHIELD needs elite operatives. Quality over quantity."
"And even though Hawk helped us eliminate HYDRA, they'd been embedded in our organization for years. No one can guarantee there aren't still HYDRA agents hiding in our ranks."
"This is the perfect opportunity."
"SHIELD can use this crisis as a chance to completely clean house internally."
"As for the remaining two Insight Helicarriers, I plan to—"
The five representatives on the large screen—including the newly appointed U.S. representative—listened as Maria Hill laid out her post-appointment strategy. Their expressions gradually shifted from serious to increasingly approving.
The Eastern and Moscow representatives were particularly receptive.
After all, those two nations had always been the "pay dues but don't participate" members. They'd been considering whether to just quit the whole arrangement entirely.
But for various reasons, that proposal hadn't passed through their respective think tanks back home.
And now—
Maria Hill's seemingly self-inflicted cuts aligned perfectly with their preferences.
The London and Paris representatives were also happy to see it happen.
After all, even among the Big Five, there was a hierarchy. SHIELD couldn't operate in the Eastern nation or Moscow. The U.S. was headquarters. But SHIELD branches in their territories had been operating with considerable autonomy.
That left the new U.S. representative.
He wanted to object. After all, everyone knew that when the U.S. proposed a "global organization" to "maintain world peace," what they really meant was using that organization to play a game of "obey us or else."
But he couldn't object right now.
It was common knowledge—
When you've just made a massive mistake, you're not exactly in a position to speak up confidently.
The United States was no exception.
So—
Maria Hill's first reform proposal as SHIELD Director received unanimous approval from the Security Council.
"What about Hawk?"
"Having Sharon in New York will be sufficient. My stance remains the same as before. The evidence proves that Hawk operates within lawful neutral parameters. He may not help us with anything, but he's even less likely to assist any future villains who might threaten Earth."
"Very well."
The Eastern representative, currently chairing the council, recalled his meeting with Hawk in the SHIELD conference room and let out a soft chuckle. "You're the SHIELD Director now. Your call, Director Hill. Just resolve this crisis as quickly as possible."
Maria Hill nodded, her expression serious.
"Understood."
"Then that's settled. Meeting adjourned."
The Eastern representative glanced at the other four representatives, then brought his hand down decisively on the table, ending the remote video conference with finality.
The large screen went dark.
Maria Hill withdrew her gaze, turned around, and looked at Victoria Hand, who had been standing off to the side—outside the camera's view—the entire time.
Commander Hand walked over.
"Director."
"Commander."
After exchanging their new titles, Hill smiled slightly. "How long will you need to wrap things up in New York?"
Hand thought about it.
"One month."
"That works."
"I'm planning to complete SHIELD's restructuring by the end of this year."
"By the end of this year..."
Victoria Hand frowned, looking at Maria Hill. "Isn't that too fast?"
Hill shook her head.
"Cut through the chaos with a sharp blade. Right now, SHIELD is at its most unstable. But that also makes it the easiest time to push through reforms. We have to change. I'm even planning to relocate headquarters entirely."
"Wait—you're seriously planning to move headquarters to—"
"Yes."
Hill nodded but didn't elaborate further. Instead, she changed the subject. "I heard Hawk got injured?"
Hand met Hill's gaze and let out a soft laugh. "Yeah. Broke his left arm. He's been recovering at home on Bleecker Street these past few days."
Hill was genuinely curious.
"What happened?"
"The Demon King's Shackles are more effective than we thought. She managed to accomplish something most people probably couldn't."
Hand explained how Hawk's left arm had ended up fractured, cast, and suspended in a sling—and more importantly, why.
After hearing the full story, Hill shook her head with mild amusement, then looked at Hand.
"That actually works out well for us. At least while he's injured and recovering, we can focus all our energy on handling our own business."
"True."
Hand nodded in agreement, then glanced at Hill. "Should we tell Sharon to talk to Gwen? See if she can convince Hawk to extend his recovery period a little longer?"
Hill smiled faintly but didn't answer.
Instead, she shifted the conversation to their next target.
"Someone should be arriving shortly. They're here looking for Nick Fury."
"..."
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